Freezing
by skullandcrossstitch
Summary: Sometimes situations reverse themselves, and you wish they hadn't. Mordecai and Rigby friendship, takes place in the meat locker. Rated for angst and character death.


"Mordecai? Please don't be mad at me! I'm really sorry! I thought I was helping!"

"W-well, you thought wrong, didn't you?" Mordecai shot back, shivering violently. "Now we're going to freeze to death, and it's all your fault!"

"Y-you don't mean that, Mordecai. Nobody's going to die," Rigby insisted, knocking frantically on the glass.

"Speak for yourself! I'm a bird! Do you know what birds do when it's cold? They fly south! I'm not built to handle the cold." Mordecai sat on the ground, arms crossed. Freezing.

"Benson and Pops will come out, and they'll notice we're missing, and they'll-"

"What? They'll what? They'll come looking?"

"Well, yeah-"

"And why the H would they think to check the meat locker?"

"I - I don't know -"

"By the time they check here, if they EVER think to check here, it'll be too late."

"I - I'm -"

"You're sorry?"

"Yeah -"

"You're always sorry, Rigby." Mordecai paused to shiver and rub his wings in an attempt to warm up. "But sorry's not good enough when we're freezing to death!"

Rigby looked over at his friend, finally giving up on pounding on the small window.

"Mordecai," he said, starting toward the shivering blue jay.

"No, dude. I don't want to hear it." Rigby scampered the rest of the way to Mordecai. He tangled around his friend, stretching as far as he could to share as much heat as possible. His tail curled around Mordecai's back and he let his chin rest on the bird's shoulder.

"D-dude, what are you doing?" Mordecai asked, putting his wing around his friend instinctively.

"No one's going to freeze. I won't let you freeze. I can fix this, see?" Mordecai held his bro tightly to his chest. "I'm sorry."

Mordecai sighed. He knew he couldn't stay mad at his buddy - no matter how badly he'd screwed up.

"It's okay, dude. I know you didn't mean to." Mordecai's shivering lessened, thanks to Rigby's heat.

"We can talk, right? To pass the time until Benson or Pops find us?" Rigby sounded very tiny, as if he were still begging for forgiveness, as if he'd ever had to. As if Mordecai could ever hold a grudge against the little guy.

"Of course, Rigby. What do you want to talk about?"

"I dunno, just whatever. How about video games? Video games are awesome."

"Yeah dude. Video games."

They fell silent.

A few minutes passed. Rigby opened his mouth as if to say something. Then he closed it again. They stayed silent.

An hour passed, but it felt like an eternity. They were shivering again and clutching each other tightly.

"You know," Rigby said, his voice soft and wavering, "I've always really liked you." Mordecai blinked.

"What?"

"I've always really liked you. You've been my best friend forever. I'd have gotten myself killed so many times if I didn't have you as a friend."

"Oh, okay. For a second I thought you meant -"

Rigby chuckled weakly. "No dude, that's gross. You're my bro." Mordecai smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem, bro." Mordecai felt the raccoon's grip slacken. The smile slid from his face, his contentedness replaced by panic. "Rigby? Rigby, dude, are you okay?" No answer. "Rigby! If you're screwing with me I will be so pissed at you!" The bird pulled his friend away from himself and looked him over. His eyes were closed, and there was frost lingering on his eyelashes. Rigby wasn't moving.

"Rigby!" He shook Rigby gently. "Rigby, wake up. Wake up!" He clutched Rigby's limp body tightly to his chest, breathing heavily and shaking violently. "Rigby, hold on. Just a little longer. You can make it." Tears squeezed out of Mordecai's eyes and froze to his beak. "You can."

A click. Mordecai forced his eyes open, disbelieving. Benson's face appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, morons! Get out of there! You're buying a new pack of hot dogs, and it's coming out of your paychecks!"

Mordecai jumped up and pushed past the gumball machine, as well as the lollipop man who was semi obscured behind him. Benson watched as he passed by and shook his head as he let the heavy door swing closed.

Benson and Pops followed Mordecai into the yard, but Mordecai was moving at a much faster pace and therefore was out of sight when they emerged into the park. A muscular yeti stood nearby, waiting.

"Skips, where did Mordecai go?" Benson asked. Skips pointed to the house, and followed after when the other two started toward the front door.

When they stepped into Mordecai and Rigby's room, Rigby was lying in Mordecai's bed with the covers pulled over him. Mordecai was standing over him and positioning a hot water bottle on Rigby's forehead, tears dripping from his beak, mingled fresh and thawed.

"You'll be okay, I promise. You can make it," he murmured, resting a wing on Rigby's chest. Benson and Skips looked at each other.

"Mordecai? Are you okay? How long were you in there?" Benson asked. Mordecai shook his head.

"I don't know. R-rigby's unconscious," the bird answered, his voice breaking. Benson stepped up.

"Let me see him," he said gently. He knealt beside the raccoon and examined him before looking up in surprise. "Mordecai, he- he's not unconscious. He's _dead_."

"No, you're lying! He's just sleeping!" Mordecai pushed Benson out of the way and scooped up his motionless friend in his wings. "He can't be. Rigby, you can't be dead. I need you. You fixed it, see? You did. You fixed it."

* * *

A/n ... yuuup. Sorry for any typoes, I typed it on my Wii. Not fun. Hope you like it!


End file.
